A computer platform may be equipped with network interface devices (NID), which may couple the computer platform to a network such as internet. A network interface device may support wired standards such as Ethernet and wireless standards such as WiFi, WiMAX, and 60 GHz. The energy consumed by the network interface device, especially while transmitting and receiving data units, is a significant portion (15-20% or higher for a laptop equipped with WiFi NIC) of the total energy of the computer platform. The energy consumed by the network interface device while actively transmitting and receiving data units is to be minimized to reduce the total energy consumed by the computer platform. Minimizing the energy consumption in a mobile computer platform is even more desirable, for example to extend the battery life.